Using the stainless steel "Emu" box from IKEA ($7 for a set), Instructable user aarone created an impressive, headless Network Attached Storage system that looks more like decoration than hardware. And since he went with FreeNAS for his operating system, the home server software didn't cost him a dime (and it runs on very inexpensive hardware). It's not a project that just anyone might feel comfortable taking on, but if you are comfortable doing your own case mods, the results are pretty nice. If you're not quite ready to make that jump, check out our first-timer's guide to building a computer from scratch.